'Amazing' Da Costa plays the seasons with Sinfonia Toronto

Audiences don’t often get to hear two years worth of music in 90 minutes.

Sinfonia Toronto pairs up Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons and Piazzolla’s The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires Sunday at 7:30 p.m. at The Machine Shop as part of Algoma Conservatory Concerts. The performance follows a sold-out show at Toronto’s Glenn Gould Theatre on Saturday night.

“It’s nice to have these two works played back-to-back because there is a lot that audiences can relate to,” music director Nurhan Arman told The Sault Star in a recent interview from the provincial capital.

Audiences can “feel good” as Vivaldi opts to start The Four Season with La Primavera, or spring. Summer, fall and winter follow.

Some groups opt to change the order the seasons are presented in Piazzolla’s work. Not Nurhan. He’ll begin with the fall.

“He expanded them and he put in all kinds of things in there from Vivaldi,” said Arman.

Each of Vivalid’s four concertos have three movements compared to one each for Piazzolla’s seasons. The latter’s single movement for each season offers listeners “many modulations and variations,” said Arman.

Sinfonia Toronto will be joined by violinist Alexandre Da Costa. The Montreal native is a 2012 Juno winner for classical album of the year. He recorded concertos by American composer Michael Daugherty with Montreal Symphony Orchestra. Da Costa has joined Sinfonia Toronto for several performances. Arman calls him an “amazing musician.

“He’s really one of the top violinists of Canada,” said Arman.

Sinfonia Toronto’s creative head first met Da Costa when he competed in a violin competition. Nurhan’s son, Stepan, was also a participant.

Piazzolla was an Argentine composer who died in 1992. He was especially known for his tango works.

Sinfonia Toronto performed in several cities in Argentina as part of a tour of South America in 2017.

“In Buenos Aires he is an icon,” said Arman. Piazzolla also has a “tremendous following” in South America.

Vivaldi, popular during his day, went “totally forgotten” for about 200 years. The first recording of The Four Seasons wasn’t done until 1939, more than 25 years after the first record was made. Violinist Louis Kaufman was featured on the first American recording of the now iconic work in 1947. By the 1950s there was still only a handful of recordings of Vivaldi’s composition, said Arman. Now there’s more than 1,000, including Da Costa’s work with Vienna Symphony’s Chamber Orchestra.

“Vivaldi suddenly became a very well-known composer,” said Arman, after a long period of being forgotten.

Tickets for Sunday’s concert, $35 adults and $15 for ages 35 and under, are on sale at Community Theatre Box Office at Station Mall or online at www.saultctc.ca